Studio: international art (41.1907)

Reviews and Notices

PORTION OF EMBROIDERED STOLE DESIGNED BY PRINCESS TENISHEF (TALASHKINO)

And then not only are the national characteristics
seen in every detail of the structure itself, but the
little plays and operas performed there under the
direction of the indefatigable Princess Tenishef,
whose assistants and pupils constitute the dramatis
■bersoncE, derive their themes from the legendary
lore of Old Russia. Princess Tenishef herseli
often writes the libretto and designs the costumes
worn by the performers. The instrument employed
for orchestral purposes is the national balalaika,
and this too has claimed a share of attention on
the part of the artist staff connected with the
establishment.

REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

The Art of the Greeks. By H. B. Walters.
(London: Methuen & Co.) \2s. 6d. net.—This
book will especially commend itself to artists. The
author has thoroughly perceived that the history of
Hellenic art derives its significance from the essen-
tially plastic genius of the Greeks, that pursuit
of visible beauty which gradually took their art
away from the inward and religious significance
with which it started. He emphasises the fact that
their athleticism, at first entirely religious in its
associations, gradually divorced art from religion as
the idea of mere physical beauty began to prevail,
though it was not until the end of the fifth century
that statues were created for a purely esthetic

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end. The author inserts a carefully-arranged
chronological scheme of Greek art. He deals in
an interesting manner with recent explorations in
Crete, which open out a new world of artistic
creation and reveal a state of civilisation which
seems almost incredible at the remote date of
2000-1500 b.c. In the separation of the art
of painting from handicraft, at which point the
independent history of Greek painting begins, he
remarks the impetus which the new movement
received by the changes at Athens under Kimon
and Pericles, when public buildings were being
erected to commemorate great events and appro-
priately decorated with frescoes of historical and
mythological composition. The chapter on Greek
vases will help to dissipate the popular use of the
term " Etruscan " in reference to the painted vases
of the Greeks. He treats us to exhaustive criticism
of Greek gems and coins, and deals very interest-
ingly with the origin of metal-working. As a whole
the book is written with singular lucidity and charm,
and is evidently the flower of deep and painstaking
scholarship. It is attractively bound and profusely
illustrated by excellent plates.

The History of Painting. By Richard Muther,
Ph.D. (London and New York: G. P. Putnam's
Sons.) Two vols., z\s. net.—Well translated into
English, and supplemented by a series of reproduc-
tions of typical masterpieces and by an excellent